Toy



I ate into two parts, one of which drops quick- -ly to the ground whilethe other sparkles anexplodin Patented' May 5, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENToFF'ica CHARLES c. s'rEcrsoN,A or snrnur., MINNESOTA application meaJuly 5, 192e. semi 1ro; 375,942.

My invention relates to an improvement -in toys, wherein it is desiredtoprovide aitoy which will furnish amusement and entertainment forchildren.

.It is my object to provide a toy to shoot a projectile or arrow up intothe air, which approximately at its highest point will separf brig-htlas it drops, colored ribbons retarding its ownward motion. The mechanismis such that it will shoot the projectile high in .the air, but will notgive it suiicient speed to j damage anything obstructing its path.

It is an object of my invention to combine the spectacular Hight of theprojectile and sparkler stick with the noise of an explosion. Thus, thechild is not onlyA entertained by the interesting sight of the ascendingand descending projectile, but also by the'noise of paper percussioncap. The

' combination 1sA one which would please practically every child, whileat the same time the danger usually Aaccompanying an explosion has beeneliminated, as the explosion takes place in a chamber entirely enclosedwith the exceptionof the barrel opening.

An `important feature of my device is the use of both a direct manualmovement by the operator and a percussion cap' so adjusted andsynchronized that after the movement of the hand starts theprojectile onits Hight, and when in the proper position, the cap explodes directly,under the moving projectile, greatly accelerating its movement. The

. combination of these two forces in this way is limportant and Inoveland results in shootingthe projectile much higher than can be done byeither one'alone. I The percussion cap also serves the purpose ofigniting the end of the fulminate material upon one part of therprojectile so that this slow burning material commences to sputter asthe projectile leavesthe guiding barrel, continues to sparkle f on itsupward Hight and draws or forces the two parts of the projectile apartas it reaches' the highest point of its Hight, one part' droppingquickly and the lother more slowly, sparkling and-Huttering as it falls.i

My toy has the advantages of being atbarrel portion A1 and a tractive inappearance, economically constructed, of having but few moving vpartsand of being substantial so that it will not easily be'destroyed. It mayalso be packed and shipped conveniently. My, toy' inducesl healthyoutdoor exercise'. and develops'the chllds judgment and skill.

- These and other objects and novel features of my invention Will bemore fully disclosed in the course of thel following specification andclaims.

In the drawings forming a part of this .l

specification j Figure 1 is a longitudinal cross section through thecenter oi my toy in position to be operated.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross section of my toy as the'projectile isleaving the barrel.

Figure 3 is a. longitudinal cross section through the center of my`projectile showing the sparklerin place.

Figure 4 is a sideview of a portion of my projection descendin in theair.

My toy is adapte ,to be used by children and accordingly is-constructedin aJ manner to prevent theldanger of accidents. -The body portion A ofmy toy is a cylinder of sufiiciently small diameter that it may beeasily grasped' by the hand of the operator, and.

long enough toprovide space for a guiding The body portion A o fwood orother suitable material is slightly tapered inwardly at the mouth of thebarrel,'and the bore of the bar# rel portion A1, suHiciently large toallow the easy movement of the projectile, is taperedor'Hared outwardlyat the mouth to allow e easily placed in tlfe through an aperture formedin the closed end` I ring chamber 'A2, v

of the firing chamber A2. Thus, by striking a sharp blow upon the flatend B2 of the operating rod B1, the piston B maybe forced upwardlywithinthe firing chamber A2 at a high rate of speed. Slightly above the headof the piston B when the toy is in position for firing, I provide a slotA3 which is wide enough vto allow the insertion of a percussion cap C tobe placed upon the head of the piston B, but too small to permit fingersto be inserted into the firing chamber A2. This slot A3 provides anopening through which any dust may be shaken out or the head of thepiston B may be scraped off to remove the accumulation of red percussioncaps which may form there. This slot A3 also serves the purpose ofadmitting air when the toy is operated preventing the retarding of thepiston B by creating a partial vacuum behind the piston.

' The projectile is made in two separate parts, a hollow tube or casingD and an enclosed sparkler stick D1 which is coated with fulminate D2over its lower portion. To the free end of the stick is attached a smallknob D3 and a ribbon or series of ribbons D4 to add to theattractiveness of the spectacle and to retard the dropping of thesparkler stick to the ground. These ribbons D4 are attached to the knobD3 which fits over the end of the sparkler stick Dl and is held in placeby slight friction so that it may be removed and successively used on anumber of sticks.' The hollow tube D serves as a casing and carries `Lhestick D1, D2.

The operation of the toy is simple and may Je learned by a very smallchild. The body oortion A is grasped by one hand ofthe oparator whilethe knobbed end B2 of the rod B1 is at its lowest position. A percussion:ap C is then inserted through the slot A3 in ;he side of the firingchamber and the proectile D with its contained stick Dl is insertdthrough the bore of the barrel Al until its ower end rests upon the capC. The operaor then aims the toy up into the air and Vith his free handstrikes the knobbed eind 32 a sharp blow upward. This starts the)rojectile D, D1 on its upward flight. When he piston B which is ofsuiicient weight to attain considerable momentum, reaches the boulderformed by the lower end of the barel portion Al, the impact explodes thecap vhile directly under and in contact with the moving projectile D,D1. This explosion greatly accelerates the upward movement of heprojectile, increasing its speed so that it vill fly highin the airwhile at the same time he flash of fire which results from the exlosionlights the fulminate or sparkler maerial D2 upon the lower end of thestick Dl. Ls a result the projectile soars upwardly hrough the air withsparks from the fulmiate being expelled from the lower open end f thetube D. By the time the projectile D Lacasse and the containedy stick Dlhave nearly reached their highest elevation, the sparks expelled-fromthe lower end have' forced the stick'upwardly and out of the tubular,

projectile in a rocket-like manner'. The tuular portion D of theprojectile then drops to the ground and the Isparkling stick descendsmore slowly, being retarded by the ribbons attached to its head D3. Thehead D3 may then be detached by a slight twist from the sparkler stickDl and inserted upon a rial so that the 'sparkler stick D1, D2 may not4be Ainserted entirely into the tube D. This large end D also provides`a greater surface in contact with the cap C so that it may be ignitedmore easily.l I also coat the lower surface of the sparkler material D5with match phosphorus to make certain it will catch fire. When this formof sparkler stick is used, the stick D1, D2, D5, is inserted into thetube D before the head D3 is put into place upon the free end of thesparkler stick D1. of preventing the stick D1 from slipping back throughthe tube D. As soon as the enlarged end D5 of fulminate material D2 isburned 0E, the sparkler stick D1, D2 is free to slip upwardly throughthe tube D.

In place of using the ordinary sparkler fulminate in the construction ofthe sparkler portion ofthe projectile, it is possible to construct thecore of the sparkler stick in the form of a fuse-like member, having aslow powder or other similar material therein so that when the same isignited, it will burn with la blowing force to force the sparkler outofthe holding tube D into the air with a rocket-like action, or the tubeD may contain slow burning powder such as is used in sky-rockets withoutthe use of any stick Dl and the said tube will then tend to soar by theexpulsion of such powder gases after the tube D has been expelled fromthe barrel por tion Al.

The portion ofthe firing chamber A2 in This head D3 serves the purpose-`which the explosion takes place is entirely enclosed with the exceptionof the barrel opening, preventing any danger from the explodingpercussion cap. Furthermore, the tube must beheld pointed up into theair or the percussion capi-will not lie fiat upon the piston head andnot be exploded. Thus, my device is safe for children to operate andprovides little chance for accidents.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principlesof operation of my toy and while ll have endeavor to illustrate the bestembodiment'thereof, l desire ling to have it understood that thesame isonly a means of carrying out myinvention and that obvious changes may bemadev within the scope of 'the following claims without departfrom thespirit of the invention.

claim:

1. A toy including, a holdercomprising a tubular member, a-means forsupporting a sparkler member slidably positioned within said holder, aplunger hammer within said holder, an opening for receiving a percussioncap-in said holder, said hammer being adapted to force said'percussioncap .against v the end of said sparkler and tubular holder to force thesalne out of said holder and simultaneously ignite -said sparkler.forcing the same high in the air and causing it to descend sparkling inits descent.

2. A toy comprising, a tubular holder, having an auxiliary holderextending therein, a

vplunger hammer slidably positionedin one end of said first holder,arecess for placing a percussion cap on said plunger hammer, means forsupportin' a sparkler within said holder, display rib ons carried bysaid sparkler, said sparkler being adapted to be ignited by Vthepercussion cap when said 'plunger .hammer is operated, driving thesparkler out of the holderA and simultaneously igniting the same,causing the sparkler to descend with the ribbon displays streamingtherefrom and while sparkling through the a1r. f

3. A toy comprising,'a holder, a sparkler made-of fulminate'material, apercusslon cap,

and means forexploding said percussion cap vto discharge and ignite saidsparkler, forcing the sparkler4 high in the air. M 4. A toy comprising,aqsparkler made of fulminate material, a rod-like upper end formed onsaid sparkler,` a 'ball member;w adapted to be secured to said rod-likemember and supporting ribbon-like displays, a

holder for supporting said sparklcr with the ribbon-like displays on theouter side thereof, a 'percussion cap* hammer slidably positioned withinsaid holder, said hammer being adapted to fire an explosive percussioncap and ignite-and force the sparkler high into the ir in a. rocket-likemanner.

5. .A toy including, a cylindrical holder, a tubular supporting memberadapted to be axially positioned within said holder, a sparkler adaptedto be inserted in said tubular- 'member, ai slidable plunger in oneg'endof said holder, an opening 1n the -side of said holder adapted toreceive a percussion cap on said lunger, said holder for said sparklerbeing a apted to be rested upon Athe .percussion cap -and said plunger'being dperable to send said sparkler rocket-like into the air and causeit to sparkle in descending to provide a display.

6. A toy including, a sparkler made of fulminate material, means forsupporting ribybon-like streamers to said sparkler, a holder forsupporting said spa'rkler extending axially therein,"with theribbon-like displays on theside of said holder, a plunger percussionhammer, an operating head connected with said plunger percussion hammerto operate the same by striking the projecting end of the same to slidethe plunger longitudinally in said holder, and means for supporting saidsparkler within said holder in a manner to cause the percussionexplosive cap to be exploded by striking said operating head of saidplunger to explode the percussion cap within the holder against thelower end of the sparkler to simultaneously ignite the Same and drivethe sparkler rocket-.like into the air.

7. A display toy including, a sparkler, a holder for'supporting saidsparkler, retarder display flexible members connected to said sparklerto retard the descent of the same, slidable plunger hammer meanspositioned in one end of said holder, said hammer being adapted toignite an explosive percussion cap wi-thin said holder to send saidsparkler rocketing into thel air and to simultaneously ignite the same.as it is forced'out of said holder.

8. A toy including, a sparkler member, and

holder and percussion cap means for similicore extending in said sparler having a burning `nature to cause a blowing force out of one end ofsaid sparkler, a holder for -supporting said sparkler and means fordriving and simultaneously igniting said sparkler as it is driven out ofsaid holder. v11. A display toy including, a sparkler member, afuse-like core extending into the bottom end of said sparkler, a holderfor supporting said'sparkler, Aretarders connectable to the upper endvof said sparkler adapted to retard the descent thereof, means in saidholder for driving said sparkler out of said .holder and simultaneouslyigniting the fuse c ore of the same as it is driven out of said holder.

12. A display toy including, a sparkler and anignitable fuse coreproviding a blowing effect out of the end of said sparkler to drive thesparkler intothe air as a displayrocket .when ignited, and meansfor'simultaneously igniting the sparkling. material of the sparkler tocause the same to sparkle while descending in the air. j

13. A toy including, a flying portion, means for starting said flyingportion upward by hand and means including a percussion cap foraccelerating said flying portion described.

by explosion caused by and synchronized With the hand operation, as andfor the purposes 1-1. In a toy in which' a ying portion is startedupward by hand, and accelerated by a percussion cap explosion, an innerprojectile carried within the said flyingportion and adapted to separatetherefrom While in flight for the purposes described. f'

l5. In a toy in which a flying portion isv started upward by hand andaccelerated by a percussion cap explosion, an inner projectilepartlyoated with sparkler material arranged barrel portion attached toatiring chamber, a

to ignite and burn, carried Within the said flying portion and adaptedto separate therefrom While in flight, substantially as and for the thepurposes described.

16. A spectacular toy having, a, guiding piston moving` in said firingchamber and adapted to explode a cap therein, and a tubu.- larprojectile containing a sparkler to be shot by said explosion throughthe said guiding barrel, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed. Y

17.- A spectaculartoy having, a guiding barrel portion attached to afiring chamber, a piston moving in said chamber, and adapted -to explodea cap therein, a tubular projectile adapted to be shot therethrough bysaid explosion, and aninner projectile having a removable enlargement onits u per end.

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